Author: Dimitrios Papadakis

The APOLLO team is working closely with pilot farmers to provide services that will help farmers do more in their everyday farming tasks in fewer steps. Farmers are at the forefront of APOLLO’s development efforts, which aim to efficiently bring them the benefits of space technologies. Since the start of the project, experts from the APOLLO team have participated in many international and national events in order to exchange experiences with farming professionals across Europe, remain at the forefront of technological advancements and inform the agricultural community about the APOLLO concept.

2017 was a big year for APOLLO in terms of outreach. The consortium participated in 12 events in the first six months, and APOLLO has continued to show a strong presence at national and international events in Europe and even in the US, presenting APOLLO’s services and technical advancements.
APOLLO was presented in total in 20 major conferences and workshops, concluding a very productive two years of activities and paving the way for what is ahead. These events were a great opportunity for APOLLO’s representatives to have fruitful exchanges with professionals from the agricultural sector and gain useful insights in regard to current needs, practices and trends on the agricultural landscape around Europe and beyond.
Some of the major events in which APOLLO was represented during the second year of the project include:

11th European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA 2017), 16-20 July, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
ECPA is a renowned conference in precision agriculture which attracts a global audience. Connecting with the theme of last years’ conference (“Innovating through Research”), the advancements of APOLLO in precision agriculture were presented. APOLLO partner AgriSat was a bronze sponsor and had strong presence at the event, while partners from the Agricultural University of Athens presented their scientific publication, “User requirements for a satellite-based advisory platform”.

InfoAg2017, 25-27 July 2017, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
APOLLO was present at one of the best-attended agricultural conferences in the world. InfoAg focuses on the practical applications of precision agriculture, and, representing the project, AgriSat took the opportunity to network with crop consultants and agribusinesses from around the world.

BioFest 2017: International festival of organic products, 11-13 October 2017, Subotica, Serbia
BioFest was a great opportunity for APOLLO representatives in our pilot country Serbia to present APOLLO services to organic farmers from Serbia and other countries.

Tallinn Space Week 2017, 3-9 November, Tallinn, Estonia
The APOLLO consortium had the great honour to be invited to present the project as a Horzon 2020 example of best practice at the Tallinn Space Week, held under the auspices of the 2017 Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Team. Our Senior Scientific Expert, Dr Stelios Kotsopoulos, presented the project, highlighting how it aims to bring the benefits of space technology to small and large farms in order to help them improve their agricultural and financial resources.

Copernicus for Agriculture, Industry Workshop, 5 February 2018, Brussels, Belgium
APOLLO was selected among as one of the three most important Horizon 2020 land downstream projects and was presented by the Research Executive Agency during the Copernicus for Agriculture workshop. This high-level event aimed to address the possible role of the private (downstream) sector for solutions in support of the agricultural end-users at international, European and Member State level.

What’s next for APOLLO?
Almost halfway through 2018, and the year is already shaping up to be full of challenges. The APOLLO team continues to work closely with farmers to develop the best possible solutions to everyday farming challenges. In autumn, our pilot farmers are expected to provide initial results from this year’s ending first growing season.
We will be pleased to meet you in one of the next events the APOLLO team intends to participate in and discuss about your needs and how APOLLO can help. So, you can stay tuned and follow us on our social media to learn where we will be present and what our next event will be.

At two major conferences this summer – the Geospatial World Forum and European Space Solutions 2016 – the increasing potential of new applications in the precision agriculture field was repeatedly emphasised. The APOLLO project was represented at both of these events, establishing links with a number of key stakeholders and initiatives and raising the profile of the project within the broader geospatial community. The outcomes underscore the existence of strong demand for services such as those which the APOLLO project is building.

Some sixty farmers, consultants and representatives of agricultural cooperatives from the Municipality of Ruma and its surrounding area met with APOLLO project partners to share their views on the concept and the future services, as part of the process of user consultation being undertaken within the project. Read more